Nepal Death Toll Tops 5,000 as Rescuers Reach Hard-Hit Rural Areas [+video]

nepal-earthquake-updateMore than 10,000 people are now known to have been injured in Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, home ministry national disaster management division chief Rameshwor Dangal told AFP.

Helicopters crisscrossed the mountains above the remote district of Ranachour Tuesday near the epicenter of the weekend earthquake, ferrying the injured to clinics and taking emergency supplies back to villages cut off by landslides.

Meanwhile, some 250 people were believed to be missing following a mudslide and avalanche in Ghodatabela, an isolated village not far from the epicenter of Saturday’s powerful earthquake.

District official Gautam Rimal said heavy snow had been falling Tuesday near the village. He said officials received initial reports of the disaster by phone but then lost contact.

The village, about a 12-hour walk from the nearest town, is along a popular trekking route, but it was not clear if the missing included trekkers. (Read more from “Nepal Death Toll Tops 5,000 as Rescuers Reach Hard-Hit Rural Areas” HERE)

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